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Arizona Explained: Nellie Bush led the state's navy

Nellie Bush had worked as a teacher, principal, earned a law degree and served in the Arizona House of Representatives. Yet for all her accomplishments, she's best remembered as "admiral of Arizona's navy."

By 1930, Nellie Bush had worked as a teacher and principal, earned a law degree and served in the Arizona House of Representatives for a decade.

Yet for all her accomplishments, she's best remembered as "admiral of Arizona's navy."

It was a somewhat dubious honor, as her fleet consisted of two antiquated ferryboats. Nevertheless, Gov. Ben Moeur bestowed the title on Bush in 1934 when he all but declared war on California and stationed troops along the Colorado River.

The governor authorized a naval force — the two ferryboats — to transport troops in case he ordered a raid.

Things did not go well for Arizona's navy. Its most notable engagement came when the boats got stuck during a reconnaissance mission and had to be rescued by construction workers from the enemy state of California.

Luckily, peace soon returned to the Colorado River and the navy was decommissioned.

Nellie May Trent was born in Cedar County, Mo., in 1888 and moved to Mesa in 1893. To help the family make ends meet, she washed clothes, worked in a beet factory and lent a hand in the fields.

After earning a teaching degree from Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University), Nellie taught school, first in Mesa and later in Glendale.

On Christmas Day 1912, she married Joseph Bush, an electrical engineer.

Looking for opportunity beyond the Valley, Joe bought a ferry business near Parker, on the Colorado River, in 1915. At the time, just a few dozen people lived in the dusty little town, which had no electricity, running water or paved roads and just one phone line.

For their first few years, the couple lived aboard a houseboat on the river. Money was so tight that when Nellie decided she wanted to give birth in Phoenix, she had to pawn her wedding ring to buy a train ticket.

Still, she and her husband worked tirelessly to promote the area. She taught at and served as principal of the Parker school. Over the years the Bushes established a hotel, bank, power plant and an airport, among other services.

Bush became the first woman in Arizona (and possibly the country) to obtain a ferryboat license, taking travelers across the Colorado River.

Her political career began in 1916, when she ran for school trustee. In 1918 she was elected justice of the peace. Two years later she won a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives.

Angry after a bank shut down the day after it accepted her deposit, Bush started studying law, first by correspondence, then at the University of Arizona. During summers she took courses at the University of California and was admitted to the bar in both states.

In addition to her private practice, Bush did legal work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. and the Santa Fe Railroad.

Her political career flourished, but there were bumps along the way. She became the first woman to head the House Judiciary Committee, but earned the wrath of Gov. George Hunt when she called him out over patronage in the state highway department.

In 1932, Bush served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which selected Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the party's presidential candidate. In 1934, she was elected to the Arizona Senate.

Two years later Bush ran for Congress, but lost a rough and crowded primary election.

She won a final term in the state Legislature in 1940.

Gov. Sidney Osborne appointed Bush to the Arizona Colorado River Commission in 1943. In 1982 she was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.

Bush was still serving on the Parker City Council when she died in 1963.